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I'm pretty sure it's actually fusion, not nuclear power, that powers the universe. It's widely referred to as "the energy of the sun."
And yeah, fusion holds a lot of promise as a clean source of energy, if we can only figure out how it works.
But it appears that we're finally a step closer, after decades of research, and $ Billions of dollars in expenditures, researchers at Livermore Labs announced a week ago that they had for the first time gotten more energy out of a fusion experiment than they had put in, although they did not achieve ignition, which would be a self-sustaining state.
Meanwhile, since the solar energy delivered to the earth from the sun every day is what? 77 times what mankind uses in total from all sources, there's a lot to be said for developing solar power, along with other clean, renewable energy sources, using technology we already have. Developing practical energy storage systems is a way to make that all more practical.
Correct, fusion, one of the two types of Nuclear energy, powers all stars. Hydrogen to Helium in smaller stars, and Hydrogen to Helium to everything up to Iron in the larger ones. Interestingly, once a star starts making Iron, it's over. I a very quick period of time (seconds), the balance between gravity and fusion is disrupted, the star collapses and then explodes. In that moment of intense fury, all the other elements are fused from lesser atoms.
I've long wondered why Hawaii is not a centre for renewable energy companies, or for that matter high tech companies. As OpenD stated the natural resources provide the perfect setting. There seems to be a disconnect between the school system and providing companies with human resources. There does not seem to be an infrastructure in place to teach and keep the type of people needed for these jobs. From what I read on the forums, the schooling is quite inadequate and as stated most go to the mainland for Uni. The cost of hiring people and then bringing them to the island is a huge factor for most companies. Here's an article I recently read, please note it's not a Hawaii bashing article, simply the perspective company management.
I've long wondered why Hawaii is not a centre for renewable energy companies, or for that matter high tech companies. As OpenD stated the natural resources provide the perfect setting. There seems to be a disconnect between the school system and providing companies with human resources. There does not seem to be an infrastructure in place to teach and keep the type of people needed for these jobs. From what I read on the forums, the schooling is quite inadequate and as stated most go to the mainland for Uni. The cost of hiring people and then bringing them to the island is a huge factor for most companies. Here's an article I recently read, please note it's not a Hawaii bashing article, simply the perspective company management.
The mindset of the dominant culture all-but-prohibits any such environment from developing. They have a term to describe it, but it escapes me at the moment. In Mexico they call it Manana.
They did put in that super computer in Maui, doesn't that sort of start the high tech process? I'm also beginning to see a lot of computer folks who can work remotely moving over here. Some of the towns, such as Honokaa, are putting in town wide wi-fi. It's slow, but it's improving. Silicon Valley didn't happen overnight.
They did put in that super computer in Maui, doesn't that sort of start the high tech process? I'm also beginning to see a lot of computer folks who can work remotely moving over here. Some of the towns, such as Honokaa, are putting in town wide wi-fi. It's slow, but it's improving. Silicon Valley didn't happen overnight.
Oh that would be a dream come true for me! I can work from home now, although the -36C weather does not make it any easier.
They did put in that super computer in Maui, doesn't that sort of start the high tech process? I'm also beginning to see a lot of computer folks who can work remotely moving over here. Some of the towns, such as Honokaa, are putting in town wide wi-fi. It's slow, but it's improving. Silicon Valley didn't happen overnight.
We've got some good seedbeds for technical work already in place on the Big Island, including the other projects in the NELHA complex in Kona, the Vulcanology Observatory in VNP, and the Astronomical Observatory on Mauna Kea, for which the lease for the huge Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was just approved last week, and where construction on the project will begin in April.
Quote:
TMT business manager David Goodman says 20 percent to 30 percent of the $1.4 billion (total) will be spent in Hawaii, with most of that on Hawaii Island. In round numbers, that means about $300 million to $400 million spent in the state from groundbreaking in April 2014 to completion in 2022. That includes an estimated 300 temporary construction jobs on Hawaii Island, which has yet to fully recover from the financial crash of 2008.
Many of those jobs will go to carpenters and drywallers belonging to Au’s union, the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters. The carpenters were the lead union negotiators in July 2009 when a memorandum of understanding was signed with the nonprofit TMT’s board of directors. Subsequently, 15 other unions signed on to the agreement that guarantees “area-standard wages,” which means prevailing union wages for construction crews.
After it is completed, TMT will provide an estimated 120 to 140 permanent jobs in Hilo and on Mauna Kea, according to organizers. Additional work, such as computer and network support and machine shop projects, will be contracted locally. For instance, in August, a Hawaii firm was hired to conduct geotechnical tests at the site at a cost of $600,000.
In addition, the Energy Excelerator program is making development money available to clean energy startup projects in Hawai'i...
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Hawaii’s Energy Excelerator pours $5M into innovative cleantech startups
Hawaii is on a mission to achieve a 70 percent clean energy goal in 2030, making it the ideal testing-ground for green tech startups.
A new startup program, called Energy Exceletor, recently raised $30 million from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Naval Research to help the state achieve that goal. A portion of the funds — about $5 million — have already been invested in 15 innovative companies, the founders exclusively revealed to VentureBeat.
The program typically invests between $100,000 and $1 million per startup, which should be a boon for cleantech companies during a prolonged funding dry spell.
Energy Excelerator is specifically looking to fund new transportation, renewable energy and smart grid technologies. About 200 startups applied this year for the program; eight seed stage and seven growth stage companies were selected.
By phone, cofounder Dawn Lippert said she chose Honolulu as the headquarters for the accelerator, in part due to the natural resources.
“We have ideal test bed conditions — sun, wind, hydro and geothermal,” she said.
Here's another interesting new project... Young Brothers will deploy a hydrogen powered fuel cell array to generate electricity for its refrigerated container shipments, to replace a typical diesel powered generator. It's a first of a kind in the world, according to the claims.
And just think, hydrogen can be generated from water by electrolysis from renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
Quote:
The fuel cell unit will be built by Sandia National Laboratories. It will be made up of four 30-kilowatt fuel cells, a hydrogen system and power conversion equipment, according to Young Brothers.
It will sit inside a 20-foot shipping container and will be portable.
Joe Pratt, the project’s manager, said the unit is the first ever built of its kind and the the technology could spread other ports across the world.
More cool stuff, thanks OpenD (won't let me rep you again). I especially like that it fits in a container (like the Li-Ion battery storage)--that means it can be deployed to each of the islands easily in case of emergency. And while hydrogen isn't the safest stuff, it sure is easy to produce from solar PV and water. I wonder if/when they will add the PV hydrogen production to the system.
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